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Buddha’s Four Noble Truths

The Buddhist worldview and the Taoist worldview complement each other. Buddhism is as rational in approach as Taoism is non-logical and mysterious. These two paradigms are complementary which gave rise to Zen (Chán). Take what appeals to you from each and make your own Zen. Here now are Buddha’s Four Noble Truths:

The First Noble Truth is the existence of sorrow. Birth is sorrowful, growth is sorrowful, illness is sorrowful, and death is sorrowful. Sad it is to be joined with that which we do not like. Sadder still is the separation from that which we love, and painful is the craving for that which cannot be obtained.

The Second Noble Truth is the cause of suffering. The cause of suffering is lust. The surrounding world affects sensation and begets a craving thirst that clamors for immediate satisfaction. The illusion of self originates and manifests itself in a cleaving to things. The desire to live for the enjoyment of self entangles us in the net of sorrows. Pleasures are the bait and the result is pain.

The Third Noble Truth is the cessation of sorrow. He who conquers self will be free from lust. He no longer craves and the flame of desire finds no material to feed upon. Thus it will be extinguished.

The Fourth Noble Truth is the Middle Path that leads to the cessation of suffering. There is salvation for him whose self disappears before truth, whose will is bent on what he ought to do, whose sole desire is the performance of his duty. He who is wise will enter this path and make an end to suffering. Eight steps on the Middle Path are:

Whichever view you lean towards, Buddha’s or the Taoist, it helps to use the other to get the ‘big picture’. This also applies to other scriptures, e.g., Jesus’s teachings (the Gospels), the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and so on.

The Tao Te Ching points to an underlying mystery and simplicity that challenges the foundations of ‘common sense’. ‘Common’ in that everyone is drinking the same Kool-Aid, whether instinct or the culture’s story. At times, the Taoist ambiguity that allows this may not help when we need a clear path to solving our ‘problem’. In fact, the Taoist world-view can feel like ‘non sense’. Indeed, because existence and nothing give birth to one another, the ‘solution’ is the ‘problem’. Buddha’s Four Noble Truths, on the other hand, identify our ‘problem’ and offer us a ‘solution’ in an obvious cause and effect way. Remarkably, there is also no need to believe they are true. In fact, as in science, it is better we not believe. Any ‘truth’ these express hinges entirely upon you proving them through personal experience!

Commentary on Some Key Terms

Sorrowful vs. Suffering

All living things feel pain. This sensation motivates living things to move away from harmful stimuli. The other side of this coin is pleasure. This sensation motivates living things to move toward beneficial stimuli. Sorrow and sorrowful are labels for the stress living things feel in their struggle to move away from pain (aversion) and move toward pleasure (attraction).

Suffering is the additional pain and sorrow that we thinking animals undergo. This additional stress is a result of expectations arising from desire and worry. The plants and non-human animals act upon the attraction or aversion (need or fear) they perceive in the moment. Humans do this also, but we also react to a multitude of cognitive projections arising out of primal attraction and aversion. In other words…

Desire

Desire (thirst, need, lust, crave,…) is central to these Truths. In fact, all religions view desire as problematic. But why? After all, life would be impossible without desire. Indeed, it’s not a problem in Nature. The circumstances of civilization are what make desire problematic. For example, desire for high-energy food (fats and carbohydrates) directs us to eat healthful food in Nature. Civilized man, however, refines fats and carbohydrates to make pizza and then, driven by desire, overeats.

As naked primates on the savanna, we lived simply with little to cling to but each other, and Nature itself. Leaving this wild state began with stone tools and fire, out of a desire to increase our security and comfort. And it continues, for this pursuit ostensibly gives life meaning. As our tools continue to liberate us from Nature’s dominion, our ability to pursue this desire steadily increases, but does life meaning? Maybe religion is simply an attempt to cope with the loss of life meaning caused by our ‘liberation’ from Mother Nature’s bosom.

Self

Clinging to things (objects and thoughts, attractions and aversions…) re-enforces our conception of self. The fleeting sense of security and comfort this gives, lures us in and promises us life meaning. Anything that enhances this is irresistible…and so we cling still tighter. Trapped emotionally in this self-perpetuating cycle, we unwittingly adopt a worldview that further validates this perception of self. This experience of self is so compelling that it easily overshadows awareness of our innate Nature.

Truth (Dharma)

Truth is the innate Nature of things — how things are — not how we think they are, nor how we want them to be. Buddha’s Truths diagnose humanity’s problem and offers a solution. Knowing this helps us know ourselves more deeply — our innate Nature — and what truly gives life meaning. A mystery to bear in mind, to paraphrase the Tao Te Ching: The nature possible to express runs counter to the constant nature.

Duty

Ultimately, duty is simply living true. However, confusion over conflicting and pressing desires makes this difficult. Slowing down enough to ponder our life’s priorities (desires), allows us to sense our innate Nature and know what we ought to do, or not do, to give life meaning. Then contentment is more possible.

The Eight Steps

Half of Buddha’s Eight Fold Path relate directly to the mind. See the [*] placed next to those steps. Our perceptions determine how we react to life’s circumstances. So obviously, Right Comprehension is a critical first step. For example, if we understand through the Second Noble Truth, that buying things won’t bring contentment, we are less likely to go into debt for them. Next, we need Right Resolution to keep us mindful of what we comprehend… and so on.

You may wonder what “Right” means, especially in light of chapter 2’s All realizing goodness as goodness, no goodness already. “Right” does not carry the same moral weight as ‘right’ does in a Judeo-Christian sense. “Right” refers to that which works. For example, the “Right” way to open a jar of pickles is counter-clockwise. To do other wise is futile. However, we usually need to do it ‘wrong’, i.e., stumble and make mistakes first, in order to realize what’s “Right”. Sorting out this “Right” way from the other ways is our life’s journey.

Now What?

Personally, I find Buddha’s Four Noble Truths sufficient. Over the decades, I’ve gradually plumbed deeper and deeper meaning from those few short paragraphs. The point is, knowing appears to rest within us and bubbles up into awareness as we mature enough to handle it. As we are truly children, we continue to mature throughout life.

Being children, we are impatient and want to make important things happen as soon as possible. And, what is more important than our quest for happiness and salvation from suffering? This results in our taking innumerable “by-paths”, from ‘righteous’ to ‘wicked’ and everything in between. Basically, we ‘try’ too hard until we wear ourselves out. Only then are we able to just ‘let it’ happen naturally. As chapter 36 hints,

♦ We yearn to ‘know’ more in the belief that this will help us ‘do’ more. In truth, we already ‘know’ enough to take us to the next step on our life’s journey. Thus, the weakest link in our quest for happiness is our inability to ‘let’ action follow knowing. No matter how minuscule that knowing is, it always surpasses the will to do, or not do, as the case may be. Thus, just do, or refrain from doing, what you know in your heart right now to be your truth, and your path will unfold naturally. (Important: ‘Know in your heart’ refers to silent intuitive knowing, not the self righteous and moralistic dogma we pass around among ourselves.) So what is the hitch? Buddha’s Second Noble Truth, i.e., “The surrounding world effects sensation and begets a craving thirst that clamors for immediate satisfaction…”. And off we go!

♦ How we perceive the world, and how we act in it, reflects our inner nature. You might say this is a dynamic balancing act. Our perceptions and actions seek to counterbalance our inner surpluses or deficits. You seek water when you are thirsty, shade when you are hot, company when you are lonely… and so on. Many will say life is much more complicated than this. Is it, or does the mind just see ‘it’ complicated? Nature is very straightforward in its mystery. Thus, regarding our perceptions as reflections and symptoms of our own inner surpluses or deficits helps us cut through a lot of rationalized nonsense. Jesus alluded to this when he said, “For every tree is known by his own fruit”. Happily, I also find that regarding my perceptions as symptoms helps me to set my ‘self’ aside and be more neutral.

♦ Instinct prods us to look to an authority figure — the alpha-male — with expertise and standing in any area of life that concerns us deeply. If you find Taoist thought appealing, you are no doubt losing some faith in this innate pull, or never felt much. That means you are going to be in charge! The only way to bear this burden is to let go of the assumption that we choose the course of our life. Abandoning this belief in self and its free will helps you devote effort to emptiness, sincerely watch stillness naturally. Of course, you can’t choose to abandon this belief, but you can meditate on it and see what bubbles up.